Defamation Suit

12:16 pm

Wed February 26, 2014

Judge Tosses Out Author Ann Rule's Lawsuit Against Seattle Weekly

A judge has thrown out true-crime author Ann Rule's defamation lawsuit against a weekly Seattle newspaper.

Rule sued the Seattle Weekly and freelance author Rick Swart over a piece published in 2011 that accused her of "sloppy storytelling" and criticized her book about an Oregon woman who killed her husband.

Rule said the story damaged her reputation, but a Seattle judge dismissed the claims in separate rulings Monday and Tuesday. King County Superior Court Judge Laura Inveen said the article was free speech protected by the First Amendment.

The author's attorney, Anne Bremner, said she plans to ask the judge to reconsider or will appeal the decision.

Rule has written dozens of books. Her first, "The Stranger Beside Me," came out in 1980 and detailed her time working on a crisis hotline with serial killer Ted Bundy.